The (binding) future is NOW! - Now Bindings
Jeremy Jones posted this on his Instagram page - he’s riding NOW bindings on all but his splitboards.
Nice Board! However you do realise “pro” boarders get paid lotsa $$$$ to use(and/or promote) a particular type of equipment and often they modify it to suit them. At the end of the day i dont really see what the hype is all about, in my opinion bindings are a lot like boots, some will try cartels (just for example) and hate them, others swear by them. Personal Choice 
I just can’t see this as anything more than gimmicky tech. No matter how the force is distributed the speed of the force from edge to edge will always be slower. I can only imagine it will be like riding bataleon’s triple base technology. Some people swear by it but those boards are so slow edge to edge.
NOW will have a demo tent at Whistler next week. So keen to try it out.
. . . “pro” boarders get paid lotsa $$$$ to use(and/or promote) a particular type of equipment and often they modify it to suit them.
Sure, it happens - but it’s definitely NOT the case that boarders only use specific equipment because they’re being paid to.
NOW, for example, simply don’t have the money to be paying people to use their bindings. How could they - their bindings aren’t even on sale yet??? This isn’t some huge multinational company - JF Pelchat was working on these in his garage for years until he finally perfected them and found a backer who’d take a chance on manufacturing and distributing them. The people currently using NOW bindings are riders who’ve had access to prototypes and samples, loved the way they perform, and wanted to continue using them. If they were just in it for the money, they’d be using products from companies who could actually afford to pay them. Travis Rice, for example, intended to use NOW bindings because he loved the way they rode - but when Union found out that he was switching away from Burton Cartels, they offered him a shitload of money to use their bindings instead.
I just can’t see this as anything more than gimmicky tech. . .
That’s because you apparently don’t understand how they work. Go back and read the whole thread before jumping to ill-informed conclusions.
I must say, I’ve spoken to a few Whistler shredders who have been testing the Now bindings and each of them has said the same thing… that they are incredible and work super well.
I’m really keen to give these bindings a go. I don’t think anyone should dismiss the benefits until you try them for yourself. I will be giving honest feedback after I test them.
What have they specifically noted as a main point of difference when compared to their conventional binders that they usually ride?????
I just can’t see this as anything more than gimmicky tech. . .
That’s because you apparently don’t understand how they work. Go back and read the whole thread before jumping to ill-informed conclusions.
Watch the videos, the bindings move delaying the reaction when you are carving edge to edge. Any delayed reaction when you move your foot to when your board moves is a loss of responsiveness. If you want your snowboarding to feel like no-boarding, skating, surfing or anything without bindings than great but thats not why snowboarders use bindings. Devun says it himself “the binding feels like its moving with your foot instead of your board.” Personally i want my board to move when I move my foot.
“Handflexing them they had no more give from the board than any binding would. In fact I’ve ridden “normal” bindings that I was able to pull further off my board than these with my hands. Significantly further.”
-I’m not going to argue that some bindings are so soft you can hand flex them off the board but that is not a “normal” binding. And this is just one opinion from one person, not fact. Similar to how my opinion is that these bindings are a gimmick in a market of bindings that haven’t really had any major technological advances since the toe cap back in 2000. Again not a fact just my opinion.
That’s why we should try it out first before calling it a gimmick
. . . “pro” boarders get paid lotsa $$$$ to use(and/or promote) a particular type of equipment and often they modify it to suit them.
Sure, it happens - but it’s definitely NOT the case that boarders only use specific equipment because they’re being paid to.
NOW, for example, simply don’t have the money to be paying people to use their bindings. How could they - their bindings aren’t even on sale yet??? This isn’t some huge multinational company - JF Pelchat was working on these in his garage for years until he finally perfected them and found a backer who’d take a chance on manufacturing and distributing them. The people currently using NOW bindings are riders who’ve had access to prototypes and samples, loved the way they perform, and wanted to continue using them. If they were just in it for the money, they’d be using products from companies who could actually afford to pay them. Travis Rice, for example, intended to use NOW bindings because he loved the way they rode - but when Union found out that he was switching away from Burton Cartels, they offered him a shitload of money to use their bindings instead.
And speaking of ill-informed, Did Travis Rice really LOVE the way they ride or did he get an offer for 50% ownership?
http://sevenyearswinter.com/writings/now-snowboard-bindings-leaps-bed-t-rice
Isn’t it always about the shitloads of money?
That’s why we should try it out first before calling it a gimmick
Spot on.
I just can’t see this as anything more than gimmicky tech. . .
That’s because you apparently don’t understand how they work. Go back and read the whole thread before jumping to ill-informed conclusions.
Watch the videos, the bindings move delaying the reaction when you are carving edge to edge. Any delayed reaction when you move your foot to when your board moves is a loss of responsiveness. If you want your snowboarding to feel like no-boarding, skating, surfing or anything without bindings than great but thats not why snowboarders use bindings. Devun says it himself “the binding feels like its moving with your foot instead of your board.” Personally i want my board to move when I move my foot.
“Handflexing them they had no more give from the board than any binding would. In fact I’ve ridden “normal” bindings that I was able to pull further off my board than these with my hands. Significantly further.”
-I’m not going to argue that some bindings are so soft you can hand flex them off the board but that is not a “normal” binding. And this is just one opinion from one person, not fact. Similar to how my opinion is that these bindings are a gimmick in a market of bindings that haven’t really had any major technological advances since the toe cap back in 2000. Again not a fact just my opinion.
Yep, just like I said - “you apparently don’t understand how they work”.
And speaking of ill-informed, Did Travis Rice really LOVE the way they ride or did he get an offer for 50% ownership?
http://sevenyearswinter.com/writings/now-snowboard-bindings-leaps-bed-t-rice
Isn’t it always about the shitloads of money?
You should scrutinise your sources more carefully, and not rely too heavily on people citing a “drunken Canadian source” who is only “usually” reliable. That unsubstantiated rumour was quashed almost as soon as it surfaced.
No, it’s NOT “always about the shitloads of money”. Sure, there are plenty of cases where it is just “about the shitloads of money”, like that ridiculous ‘SkiCity Melbourne’ business for example (well, they can at least dream about making “shitloads of money”) - but not in the case of JF Pelchat’s project.
So please, enlighten me on where you have found travis rice’s opinion on bindings.